SteinsGate: The Threads of Time
by Cloudy Miyu
Summary: For every main story, there are countless stories influenced by the events the main storyline creates. Akira and Dean, both possessing the reading Steiner are dragged along in the world lines by the actions of the Steins;Gate cast. Little do they know it, but the main cast's actions are changing the lives of two people that are mere acquaintances of theirs. Time stops for no one.
1. Chapter 1: Butterfly Affected

Thousands of world lines, spreading across the expanses of the fourth dimension. Each connected, each broken by a single choice. Alternate worlds, alternate realities living side by side, but never overlapping. This is the spiderweb we call time, woven in a tapestry of unstoppable chaos.

The web becomes more and more tangled by each choice made by minute creatures, by the living beings in the world. Every word, every action decides what path time will follow. Every decision breaks the thread of time into multiple possibilities. However, if you change one thing, the whole situation changes. Butterfly Effect.

The Butterfly Effect not only affects the individual, but drags all the people they know into the time thread their decision created. That does not stop people from reaching out and pulling the strings of time. Yet the single choice to do so creates a havoc more powerful than any force comprehensible by humankind. Time is harsh. Time is ever moving. Time leaves the results of every small detail choice in it's wake.

Playing with time is a dangerous game.

Chapter 1

Butterfly Affected

Makise Kurisu. A girl genius, already graduated from University at the extraordinary age of seventeen. Her papers already well known in the scientific community, she has a solid foundation for a career in Neurology.

However phenomenal her achievements may be, the now eighteen year old Kurisu isn't the only genius in the world, or in Japan for that matter. There are many geniuses of her age. One of them just so happened to be a fellow student of hers, graduated in her class at the same age, and already with a career as a Science Professor in the Tokyo Electronics University.

The girl professor walked down the halls of the University, her black heels clicking on the marble floor. Her honey-brown hair bounced in waves on her shoulders while she continued forward, framing her pale unblemished face. Balanced on her nose were glasses of the latest fashion, highlighting her grey-green eyes. Her green blouse, grey pencil skirt, pure white lab coat, and shining nametag made her stand out from among the crowds of students, making her social stance as a teacher prominent.

Hisakawa Akira. Eighteen, and beginning her first day as a guest teacher for a class on special relativity, or in other words: time travel.

Akira was always fascinated by the possibility of traveling through time, visiting the past or the future. So she spent endless hours studying theories and Einstein's concepts of relativity. She decided that she would make her focus be on such theoretical possibilities, and began pioneering multiple projects studying them. Most did not see her pursuits as something to study as avidly as she did, so she rarely spoke in front of a class, but today was different. She was going to speak to a freshman class about relativity and how it supported the basics of time travel before they attended a special press conference at the Radio Building in the Akihabara district.

Her hands gripped the folders she had clutched to her chest a bit tighter as the anticipation in her stomach grew into a much more wild excitement. This was her passion, and she finally had the chance to teach others about the concepts she so treasured. A small smile crept across her colored red lips. This was her moment to shine.

Slightly out of breath, the girl reached the top of a staircase and began walking down yet another hallway. At one of the branching halls she took a left and after a minute, reached the door that led to the classroom. Her classroom. For the day at least.

Her heart pounding, Akira pushed open the double doors that stood between her and the room lined with desks and chalkboards.

Twenty pairs of eyes turned to her in unison, making her freeze for a moment as if the gaze of the students were holding her in an opinion of disparagement. They were all rather incredulous, as they were no older than she was. Half the students face's turned into expressions of contempt. A lump of nervousness rose in the back of Akira's throat, but she swallowed it and put on a face of confidence.

Akira made her way to the front of the room and the student in the first chair called the order to rise and bow to the teacher. A common practice of respect for any teacher present in the University. After the students did so and returned to their seats, Akira cleared her throat and placed her folders on the desk.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Professor Hisakawa Akira." She wrote her name in hurried but clear print on the chalkboard behind her desk and turned back to the mostly skeptical faces of the students. "I'll be here teaching you about theories of relativity and how they relate to the possibility of time travel before you attend the lecture by Dr. Nakabachi this afternoon."

Respect was the only thing from keeping now more than half of the students from laughing in her face. It was true she could talk fancy, but her age clearly threw doubt on her abilities. She resisted the urge to bite her lip anxiously before continuing.

"Hopefully you've had time to cover basic relativity, but I'll give you a crash course to make sure we have the bases covered."

"There are two theories of relativity that were introduced by Albert Einstein: general relativity and special relativity. General relativity is a theory of gravitation and special relativity encompasses the realm of spacetime structure. The main focus here will be how these two have a connection to time and how we perceive it."

"While most see time as a constant, Einstein showed it is actually quite different. Time is an illusion; it's relative. It varies between the observer's point of view. He refers to time as the 'fourth dimension,' the other three obviously being width, height, and depth; three dimensional space. The theory of special relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast something moves relative to something else. The general relativity theory also shows that theoretically, gravity can bend time."

She looked up from her notes and saw the boredom on the faces of the students. Clearly, they weren't having the easiest time understanding her. She quickly thought of a better way of capturing their attention.

"Picture this," she drew a cube and put an hourglass inside it. "A four dimensional plane, like fabric for example, only with the addition of time. Anything with mass that sits on the surface of that fabric will cause the fabric to bend towards that object. This theoretical four dimensional fabric is our spacetime plane. Bending space time causes objects to move on a curved path, which is actually what we perceive as gravity."

"Both the general and special relativity theories have been proven with GPS satellite technology that has very accurate timepieces on board. The effects of gravity, as well as the satellites' increased speed above the Earth relative to observers on the ground, make the unadjusted clocks gain 38 microseconds a day."

A few students had started to look interested, so Akira continued with more enthusiasm.

"This effect, time dilation, means in a sense that astronauts are time travelers, as they return to Earth slightly younger than, lets say they have an identical twin, on Earth. Time doesn't pass as quickly for them."

A student raised his hand. Akira nodded for him to speak, but he bent over his notebook and began scribbling. Confused, Akira blinked at him and watched for a minute, unsure of what to say. A moment later, he held up his notebook for her to read.

" _So science has shown that in theory, time travel is possible? Not just a work of science fiction?"_

Akira nodded. "Right. No one has yet tested time travel going into the past or the future. But there is the possibility. That possibility is what makes the idea something worth researching. In my opinion at least."

The student nodded to show he understood before he sat back down. Akira was a bit confused of the method he had used to ask his question, but decided to ignore it for the time being, as she had to manage the class.

Another raised her hand. "So now that we've established the theoretical chance of time travel actually working, how do other theories tie into it?"

"Well, there are many guesses as to how time travel itself works. There are wormhole theories that tie back to general relativity, tipler cylinder theory, cosmic strings, and others similar that attempt to explain possible routes for time travel itself." Akira explained.

"But none have actually been explored?"

"Not physically no. Nothing has been tested, because physics as we know it and technology, as advanced as it is, unfortunately limits our ability to even attempt time travel at this point. However, in the future, there may be more discoveries and then perhaps actual tests that would open the door to time traveling."

A young man in the back with wild black hair and a white lab coat stood up. "Time travel is real."

Akira and the other students looked at him incredulously.

"I-I'm sorry?" Akira stuttered. "What do you mean it's real? There's no proof it's an attainable feat at this point."

The young man shook his head. "Then how do you explain the internet phenomenon John Titor?"

The room went abuzz with chatter. Akira knew who this man spoke of. John Titor, the man supposedly from 2036. When he appeared in 2000, he had posted pictures of a time machine and the operation manual on a public forum, and supposedly answered many questions about the physics of time travel. What made his story more believable were his eerie predictions about incidents like the second gulf war occurring, and physics discoveries that had come to light, just as he predicted on the forum. The strangest thing he claimed was his worldline being different from the one he visited. Their future was apparently much more different from the worldline that current time was moving forward on.

Akira shrugged. "Just like you describe, a phenomenon. It's either a scam, or a real time traveler who did try to show us it is possible. I leave the choice up to you. I'm not here to tell you everything about time travel, only to prepare you for the lecture given later by Dr. Nakabachi."

The man shrugged, flipped his lab coat dramatically, and sat back down, deep in thought. The young man was unusually eccentric.

The bell rang, bringing Akira's class to an end.

"Before you go, I have a few official announcements to give you. Firstly, the lecture is at the press conference is something you will earn credits for. Attendance is not required, but recommended. My lecture will not earn you credits. Secondly, it is at the Radio Building in the Akihabara district, for those of you who don't know."

Akira adjusted her glasses as the students respectfully bowed in unison and began filing out the door. As the last student left the classroom, she breathed out a heavy sigh of relief and leaned back against the chalkboard. She had done it. Her first real lecture. And what's more, it was a success, prompting discussion itself from the students she had taught.

" _There's nothing more satisfying than being able to express your passion to others and have it well received."_ She thought to herself, zoning out and gazing intently at the ceiling. " _Hopefully, I'll have another chance to-"_

A noise pulled her from her brief daze of euphoria. She sat up straight and looked around the empty room. Nobody was in any of the seats, so that couldn't have been what she had heard. Gathering her folders, she walked out from behind her desk and looked behind the filing cabinet, checking for something that may have fallen. A finger suddenly tapped her shoulder.

"EEEEEKKK!" Akira let out a cry of surprise and dropped her folders while whirling to face the culprit. Her folders burst open, sending papers in a sudden shower around their heads.

The boy from earlier, the one who had written in his notebook instead of speaking, was standing there, a very guilty expression on his face. He began wildly making apologetic gestures and bent to help gather the floating pages scattering on the floor, blown around by the air conditioning.

"I'm so sorry!" Akira exclaimed, kneeling down and snatching papers from the floor. "I'm a real klutz. I didn't realize someone was here. Don't worry about this I'll pick it up." She babbled, speaking quickly from her embarrassment.

The boy shook his head, made a calming gesture, and continued to help her retrieve the pages, gathering them into a neat stack that she could sort through without too much problem. Akira watched him as they worked, her curiosity piqued.

He was tall, probably four inches above her height of five-foot four. His hair was black and slightly scruffy, brushing the top of his black rimmed glasses. His bangs almost hid his light brown eyes, which sparkled through the clear lenses of his glasses. One would probably describe him as good looking, except his quiet demeanor prevented him from standing out from other men.

"Thank you." Akira said gratefully when they had collected all of her notes.

The boy smiled briefly and nodded, as if to say "You're welcome." He stood and held out his hand to help her up.

She smiled back and stood up with his assistance. "I really appreciate your help. What's your name?"

The boy quickly scribbled something on his notebook page, and showed it to her.

"Etsuko Dean-san?" She said slowly, trying to affirm her correct pronunciation.

He nodded.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you Etsuko-san." She hesitated. "If I might be so bold...why do you not speak?"

The boy pressed his lips together in a thin line, but he began writing, Akira watching as he did so.

" _I was born able to talk but a few years ago, I was in a car accident. Smoke, whiplash trauma, and gaseous fumes from the cars damaged my larynx permanently."_ The boy waited for her to finish reading before he continued. " _It doesn't really bother me. It's just a small obstacle to overcome in everyday life."_

Akira bowed her head slightly, looking down at her black heels. "I'm sorry that happened to you, but I'm glad you weren't hurt otherwise."

Etsuko nodded again, and gestured to the door in a questioning manner.

"Oh yes, it was about time I left. You should probably head over to the Radio Building. The press conference will be starting in a half hour." Akira suggested as they exited the room.

Etsuko shrugged. " _I've gathered a good amount of credits already, so I don't really need to go to it as much as others would. But it would be an enlightening experience, just like your lecture."_

Akira laughed. "I'd say go for it. It would be fun."

Etsuko laughed silently, his breath coming in small airy bursts. " _I'll pass. I've had a long day today. I'll ask my classmate Okabe to fill me in."_

Akira nodded and bid him farewell before she left, parting ways at the path to the student dorms, where Etsuko began walking. Akira quickly went to the station nearby and began her journey to the Radio Building. She wanted to listen in on the conference herself, and eagerly anticipated the information Dr. Nakabachi had to present.

It did not take long for her train to reach Akihabara station. Akira hurried down the street to where the building was glowing, the neon lights of the surrounding buildings glinting on the glass windows. She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

She passed up the one weird student in the hallway. He was accompanied by a young girl wearing blue who was begging him for a small plastic toy from a nearby dispenser. She took no notice and went upstairs to the room where the conference was to be held.

It didn't take long for others to gather, and eventually everyone was seated and Dr. Nakabachi had begun his speech. Akira began listening attentively and flipping through the booklet provided.

"DOCTOOOOR!"

Akira jumped with surprise at the sudden loud outburst. She looked to her right to see the eccentric student from her lecture challenging Dr. Nakabachi.

"These theories are John Titor's! You've basically ripped his whole story and put it in this booklet!"

Akira looked closer, realizing that the student was actually right. Odd. She hadn't even noticed until he had pointed it out. Disgusted that there was nothing new to be found here, she left the room without drawing too much attention to herself. What a waste of valuable time.

She stomped down to the ground level floor and began rifling through her folder, reorganizing her notes. She sat on the bottom step, lost in her concentration. The nerve of the man, just reusing old theories already discovered. He had promised new discussions and facts that would be unearthed, but he stole the ideas of the internet phenomenon.

Akira thought for a moment. Then she realized that if the John titor story was really true...then was it possible? Could the scientific community be actually investigating the story and trying to utilize it into their factual research?

The honey haired girl stood up just as an announcement blared on the intercom.

"Everyone please evacuate the building. Repeat, leave the building immediately."

Akira was puzzled, but she complied. When she reached the street, she began listening to those around her, trying to figure out what was going on. She saw the one student and began making his way towards him. The blue girl was standing beside him, worry in her eyes.

Akira heard them talking.

"Okarin, are you alright? You look pale." Her high pitched childish voice reached Akira's ears easily.

Okarin, as she now knew he was called, slowly turned to look at his companion, then gazed back at the building in shock. "Someone….died."

Akira's heart pounded in her ears. Murder? Murder here at the Radio Building? Her legs felt weak from the sudden weight of shock that crashed down on her.

" _It could have been me. Or him, or his young friend there. But who was it...that died?"_ Akira's panicked thoughts swirled in confusion as she began walking away with the others gathered around the building.

She went down the street so she could easily reach the Akihabara station and get away from all this. She didn't feel too well after hearing what had happened. People pressed to get to the station around her, most likely trying to clear the area to avoid police questioning. She shouldered her way through, and began making her way to the courtyard right before the station.

Suddenly, her head pounded and her heart rate skyrocketed. She fell to her knees and gasped loudly. Images flashed through her head. Then suddenly...

All was quiet.

Akira looked up to an empty street. Nobody was there. The crowd that had been pushing her moments before was gone. Dazed, she staggered to her feet and leaned against a nearby wall to catch her breath. Was she dreaming? Had she fallen asleep?

She decided that the heat and shock of the day had caused her to hallucinate, so she stood up straight and went to the station to wait for her train. Her day had taken an unexpected turn. However, it had changed far more than she realized.


	2. Chapter 2: Recoil Conundrum

Chapter 2

Recoil Conundrum

Hisakawa Akira pushed open the small door to her one man apartment. She kicked off her shoes, and walked stocking footed into her tiny living space. After setting her folders on the very cluttered desk on the other side of the room, she flopped heavily on the couch, sighing with relief. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes.

Her day had ended up being more eventful than she had realized. More eventful than she had wanted. First, a presentation, the press conference. And then…

Akira sat up. "I wonder…" she began feeling around the couch cushions for her TV remote. "..If there is any news on the murder at the Radio Building." She muttered to herself. After a minute of digging under the pillows, she extracted the remote from between the seat cushions and turned the TV on.

"-At approximately noon today, an object believed to be a space satellite came crashing in Akihabara." A reporter's matter-of-fact voice came on the speaker as an image of the Radio Building showed up. "As you can see, even from the ground.."

Akira sat up. " _When did this happen? I was nearby at the time, and I heard nothing crashing and I saw nothing falling? And…"_ She frowned in confusion. " _I was at Dr. Nakabachi's conference at that time. How could the conference go on and this satellite crash at the same time? Both couldn't possibly have happened at noon."_

Her phone buzzed. Still pondering this weird occurrence, Akira answered it. "Hello? This is Akira."

"Hisakawa-san! It's Akidawa Nikari. Did you see it on the news? The satellite crash?" A loud bubbly voice resounded from the mobile device's speakers, making Akira wince as she turned her volume down.

"Yes, I just turn on the TV and saw it." She replied.

"I guess it's a good thing Dr. Nakabachi's conference was canceled after all. You'd have been squashed like a bug!"

Akira blinked. "No, wait. Back up. The conference was canceled?" She asked incredulously.

"You were the one who complained about it. You were so miffed that I got an earful from you ranting about how there were possibilities of discussing time travel wasted because the doctor bailed."

Akira shook her head, even though she knew Akidawa couldn't see her. "Wait, I was at that conference. I just got home from it five minutes ago."

"Are you talking crazy?" Akidawa's laugh was piercing over the phone, prompting Akira to turn the volume down even lower. "That meeting never happened, Akira. You must have been imagining things. Maybe you should take a break from your research and give your mind a rest. You've been overworking lately and I don't think-"

Akira was no longer listening. Her mind raced, trying to make the connections between what she had just been told and what she remembered. She HAD been at the Radio Building at noon: during the press conference. The press conference that was...canceled? If it was canceled, why was she even remembering the eccentric student pointing out the scam it had been, and then the murder? The murder!

"Akidawa-san! What about the murder?!" Akira blurted out, interrupting her friend's consistent babble.

"What murder?"

"The murder at the Radio Building! I was there when they evacuated the building!"

"There was no murder today at the Akihabara Radio Building. Just the satellite crash." Her voice filled with genuine concern. "Akira, are you okay? You don't feel sick do you?"

She hesitated. Then took a short breath, collecting herself. "No. No don't worry." Akira responded, trying to sound nonchalant. "You're right. I've been working a lot, so maybe I should rest."

Another laugh reverberated from the phone, but this time, it sounded more forced and worried. "I'm glad you're taking my advice Aki-san. Call me if you do feel ill and I'll head right over, okay?"

"Sure thing Akidawa-san. Take care."

Akira ended the call. Her stomach was turning and she felt rather uneasy. She bit her lip agitatedly and leaned her elbows on her knees, trying to think.

" _Why are there such big inconsistencies in my memory?"_ She rubbed her forehead, brushing her bangs from her eyes, then took off her glasses, rubbing the lenses clean on her shirt. " _Maybe Akidawa-san is right. The stress of preparing for today probably made me tired."_ She balanced her glasses back on her nose, then got up to check what food she had available for a dinner.

With a nerve grating squeal, her cupboard doors opened, revealing practically nothing at all but some unopened soy sauce, a bag of rice, and dried nori snacks. Perusing the fridge yielded the same result of nothing meal worthy.

Akira sighed. "I suppose I'll have to head out to the convenience store and get something that would go well with rice. Maybe I could make a stir fry?" She pulled off her lab coat and grabbed her sweater, but something about her lab coat made her look again.

She squinted at it, wondering why she felt like something was off. Then she realized it. Her teacher name tag ID was gone! Had she taken it off by the front door when she got in? She rushed to her doorway and scanned the floor. Not here.

"Ugh, where could that have gone? Did I put it on my desk with the folders...?"

Akira checked through her folders twice and cleaned off her whole desk. Her efforts still revealed nothing.

She groaned in frustration. "I need that ID tag! Going to the University lab will be impossible without it!" She irritably slammed her folder shut and glared at the wall.

Her heart stopped.

She ran her hands on the glass of the picture frames on her wall. She couldn't believe it. This was where she had kept her credentials. Her college diplomas and professor's certificate were here...or at least, supposed to be here. Her master's degree and honors were gone. Now all that the photo frames held were photos of her parents and a bachelor's degree in physics.

Akira stepped back, her hand dropping uselessly to her side. "Impossible." Her fingers twitched. "They're gone. All my credentials...vanished."

She staggered backward and collapsed on her desk chair, her vision spinning. What was going on today? Was she going mad? Everything that had happened was suddenly backwards. She went to a press conference that had never existed, and now, apparently, she had never graduated with honors from her University and never gotten a job at the Tokyo Electronics University. She wasn't the prodigy schoolgirl that taught about relativity relating to time travel in her first lecture this morning. She was a nobody.

Akira sat there, staring at the wall that had once proudly displayed her identity, presented her hard earned diplomas, and proclaimed who she was. Anxious sweat made her shirt cling to her back as it pressed against the back of the desk chair.

" _What is going on?"_ She clutched the side of her now throbbing head with her left hand. " _This feels like a nightmare… I couldn't possibly have just imagined everything."_

Her stomach growled. " _I'll never sort this out if my energy is low...I might as well go out and get something to eat."_ She reasoned, trying to collect herself.

She pulled on her sweater, which she had dropped in the confusion before, and headed out. It didn't take her long to get to the small convenience store nearby. As the sliding doors opened, she saw a few of the students she had taught- well, had met before wandering around too. She supposed most of them lived in this area, since lots of University students lived here.

Perusing the shelves, she managed to find the items she was looking for. As she searched for one final ingredient, she overheard some of the students talking.

"-said nothing since we got back from class. Are you feeling okay?" A young man's voice was talking now.

Akira shrugged and tried to mind her own business.

"Etsuko-kun, really. Is this some sort of prank? Why are you writing down your answers on paper?"

Her ears perked up. Etsuko? Oh! Etsuko was the student with the speech impediment she had met earlier! Was his companion picking on him out of some sort of meanness? She hadn't meant to eavesdrop before, but now this had caught her attention and slightly bothered her.

"If you aren't why won't you talk to me?" The friend sounded annoyed now. "Seriously, just stop with this weird game you're playing."

Something made Akira mad. Maybe it was the stress from the sudden shocks she had received, but something inside her snapped. Angrily, she marched around to the opposite aisle where the boys were standing to give his friend a piece of her mind.

"Excuse-" she began, addressing Etsuko's friend. As they both turned to face her, her foot slipped on the tile floor. Time seemed to slow down. The background music in the store decelerated in speed, each note drawing itself out as Akira pitched forward. Both the boys gasped and made a grab for her arms to break her fall.

"Watch out!"

The voice barely registered her mind as the ground rushed up to meet her. She fell face first on the tile, both boys narrowly missing her. Her basket holding her groceries tumbled across the floor, spilling the items inside.

"Oh shoot." The friend said. "Are you okay miss?"

Akira groaned and pushed herself on her knees. "Y-yeah, sorry. I-"

"Glad you're okay. At least it got Etsuko talking." The boy cut in over her, quickly helping her to her feet.

Akira looked over at the bespectacled boy she had met before. His face was a mask of shock. His eyes stared into nothingness and he raised a shaky hand to his mouth.

"W-what?" His voice was trembling.

Akira recognized the voice that had called out the late warning as she had fallen. But...he couldn't speak. He couldn't possibly have spoken! His voice was gone! Or at least, it was supposed to be. She took a sharp breath and glanced over at his friend, wondering if he had noticed this.

"Geez dude, I would have thought you were suddenly struck dumb. Why weren't you talking earlier?" The friend looked rather harassed and held his hands in a questioning gesture.

Etsuko licked his lips nervously before slowly replying. "I-I just didn't really...feel like talking." His brown eyes met Akira's and she saw a spark of recognition flash across his face.

"You could have just said so." The friend grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Etsuko's eyes pulled away from Akira's face and saw the groceries on the floor that had scattered during her spill. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up." He said, waving his friend towards the registers. The boy shrugged and slouched off toward them, muttering irritably about tricks and annoying things. Etsuko and Akira both knelt down to gather the things she had dropped.

Akira frantically began tossing things in her grocery basket, embarrassed that she had fallen and now for the second time today, dropped something all over the floor. At least, to her it felt like her second time.

"Sorry." She blustered. "I just keep making a mess of things today."

Etsuko shook his head. "No, it's no problem." He placed some frozen vegetables in her handcart. "I don't mind helping you again."

Akira looked up sharply. "Again?" She echoed. "What makes you say that?"

Etsuko blinked, then bit his lip. "Sorry, nevermind. I was mistaken. I was thinking of something else."

Akira was puzzled, then a thought occurred to her. Maybe...just maybe…

"You remember the lecture, don't you." She said, in a low voice.

Dean's head shot up. "The lecture! You remember it?"

Akira nodded, placing her last item in her handcart. "I remember everything. From the lecture up till the conference at the Radio Building. But no one else seems to recall anything from what I remember happening. And you...your speech impediment…"

"That's the same with me. It's as if it never happened...as if my voice was never…" He trailed off and his eyebrows furrowed together. "I...I never thought I'd ever say this again...or ever say anything again...but can I talk to you?"

Akira bobbed her head quickly. "Yes. My apartment is only a few minutes away. We can discuss things there privately."

He returned her nod and waited patiently for her to check out her groceries before they both left the store and went up the street. They traveled in silence, not exactly sure what to say. One thing was clear to both of them: they had shared a strange experience and they wanted answers. The same thought had crossed their minds. Perhaps through shared experience, they could puzzle out what had happened to change their situations entirely.


	3. Chapter 3: Divergent Reality Complex

Chapter 3

Divergent Reality Complex

The soft chirping of cicadas floated in the air. The sun cast a soft orange glow on the sidewalk as it reached the edge of the horizon. The noise of busy Akihabara was dying down as people moved on into their homes for the day. The world was in a moment of peaceful tranquility as nature and mankind began settling down before nightfall. However, in spite of the serene surroundings, two minds remained troubled, unaffected by the quiet scene around them.

Akira walked beside Etsuko Dean, the student she had met this morning. This morning already seemed like it had happened a long time ago. Since then, so much had changed and Akira was almost sure by now that there were more minute changes she was yet unaware of. Yet, here she was with a former student of hers, now coming to the steps that led up to her apartment where they were going to try to talk about what had happened to both of them.

The building looked well kept, thanks to the efforts of the landowner and tenants. The doors to each apartment lined the side of the building that faced towards the small parking lot. Beside each door was a front window. Above the ground level rooms was a small staircase leading to the second floor, where another row of apartment doors and windows were visible. The brick walls were unusually clean, and each front window held a flower box with brilliant summer blooms in each. Akira was glad her apartment complex was one of the more well kept ones.

Upon observing these details, Etsuko's eyebrows lifted and he gave a brief nod of approval. "It's nice here."

Akira smiled. "Our landlady takes pride in her building being one of the better looking ones around here." She gestured to the steps. "This way. My room is the third on the second floor. Be careful, the steps can be a bit slippery."

It only took a moment for the two to ascend the stairs and reach the door. Akira fiddled with her keys at the door, then turned the knob and let it swing open. The light from the open window and door revealed the untidy desk, the stacks of books on the kotatsu table, and the pile of unfolded laundry in a basket by the sofa.

"It's not very tidy. I don't usually have visitors here." Akira said apologetically, as she slipped off her shoes.

Etsuko shrugged. "I don't really care about stuff like that. My dorm is no better. It's probably worse actually." He kicked his own shoes off and walked into the room behind Akira.

"You can sit at the table. I'll just move these books out of the way." Akira said as she began stacking books in her arms and moving them onto the sofa. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you." Etsuko sat on one of the comfortable floor cushions and patiently watched Akira move the book stacks out of the way.

Once she had cleared the kotatsu, Akira made her way to her small kitchen. "Would you like some tea? Or maybe some coffee?"

"Just tea, thank you." Etsuko replied, polishing his glasses on his T-shirt.

Akira nodded and began preparing a pot of water. "I only have instant tea. But it's better than most."

He smiled briefly in response and readjusted his glasses on his face.

Another minute of silence began in the small room. Akira laid out the tea things as she waited for the water to boil. Etsuko took off his sweater and placed it beside him. The sound of a pin falling to the floor would have been loud in the hushed atmosphere of the apartment.

Akira wasn't quite sure how to start a conversation, so she tried to busy herself with focusing on pouring the tea into the china pot and carrying it to the table. She gave Etsuko a cup and they sipped together in awkward quiet.

Suddenly, Etsuko put down his cup. "Sorry Himekawa-sensei, It's been a while since I've had to uphold verbal conversation." He rubbed the back of his neck in a timid manner.

Akira blushed. "Oh no, you don't need to apologize. I wasn't really saying much either. I'm not used to company."

He shrugged. "Well, I guess since we've started, we might as well talk about what happened earlier."

"Right. That is why we're here after all." Akira commented. "Why don't you explain what happened to you, and I'll tell you my side of the story?"

Etsuko agreed and the they began relaying the events of the day to each other. Etsuko's story was hardly any different from her own. It had begun like any other day, progressed through classes normally, and both of them made it to their respective destinations, Etsuko's being his dorm and Akira's the Radio Building. It was when noon struck that both of them had experienced hallucinatory visions and things had begun to change.

Once they had hashed out those details, they decided to begin theorizing the possibilities. They knew that such a surreal event could have been the result of anything, and they were willing to bet on anything with enough supportive evidence. For an hour they blurted out the craziest ideas. Some theories were logical. Some were not. But all of them left too many loose ends to tie up for a conclusive theory.

By now, the warm orange-colored evening was reaching an inky-black night. The stars were beginning to appear on the purple horizon. The sun had set a few minutes ago, and the final light of day shining from behind the earth's horizon was fading fast. The streetlights outside cast eerie shadows across the sidewalk outside.

Etsuko let himself fell backwards and stared at the ceiling. "There's nothing that's at all plausible!" He grumbled. "We've been talking for-ever and still haven't come up with anything. Zero. Zip. Nothing."

Akira sighed as she pulled her off her glasses and leaned her face in her hand, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Well, sometimes puzzles take more than one day to solve."

"This puzzle needs to be solved as soon as we can. We can't just act like nothing happened after so many things about both of us have changed." he argued, sitting up. "We need answers. And we need them now."

Akira shrugged. "You have a point, but we can't move forward if we don't have a place to start." she pointed out, twirling her glasses on her finger.

Etsuko shook his head and leaned back on the floor once again. "It's like someone toyed with reality just to screw with our minds."

Akira slowly put her glasses back on her face and gazed at the wall. "Toyed with reality?" she echoed.

He nodded and rested his hands behind his head. "Yeah, like they pulled us out of our lives and threw us into someone else's for a joke."

"You know…" she blinked. "Maybe…this is a different reality after all? An alternate reality perhaps?"

Etsuko looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Just that," Akira said. "Maybe we got thrown into a different reality somehow." her voice got excited. "What if that's really what could have happened! After all, it's possible for divergent realities to exist alongside our own."

"Are you kidding? That sounds like something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie." Etsuko scoffed.

Akira tossed her head. "Silly, I've been studying relatively for years and time travel alongside it. Our reality is different from the one we knew. Somehow, we must have jumped from one to the other."

"Or maybe someone changed the past." Etsuko said carelessly.

Akira stood up, nearly flipping the kotatsu onto Etsuko and knocking over the empty tea cups. "Etsuko-san! You're a genius! It all makes sense now!"

"Whoa! Slow down Himekawa-san. What did I say?"

"The past is different because something somehow changed it! That's why we're in a divergent reality!" Akira's grey-green eyes shone with excitement. "It's as if my whole researching career has lead up to this moment!"

"You know, that's great and all, but could you explain that a little better, Himekawa-san?" Etsuko asked, fixing the crooked kotatsu and sitting up again.

Akira sat down and explained everything she had just theorized. He was right about the alternate reality. The only way this could be possible was if some event in the past had changed. The change would cause the outcome of the world to be different in one reality compared to theirs. Somehow they had retained their memories from the leap to the parallel reality, which is why they remembered a different past instead of the past this world actually had. What caused the alteration of the world reality, Akira had no idea. But they had a possible reason for the events of the day, and for now, that was satisfying enough for both of them.

"I feel like I can breathe a little easier." Etsuko admitted. "Now that I know what happened, it'll be easy to try to move forward from here."

Akira shrugged. "For you maybe. I lost years of my life."

"Not too many I should think. You still live near the University. Maybe you're just a student now studying the things you've already learned from your researching in the alternate world." Etsuko suggested. "If that's the case, the only thing that changed is your status as a teacher in the University."

"I guess you're right. perhaps it's not as bad as I might think." she gazed sadly at the wall. "Although, I do miss my diplomas. My wall looks too bare without them."

Etsuko laughed.

They sat there, relishing the moment of simple understanding. Akira let her eyes wander and for a moment, her eyes took in Etsuko's face. Her scientifically wired mind began analyzing the details. The way his hair hung over the edge of his glasses, the slant of his almond eyes and their brown color that seemed to glow with warmth.

She pulled her mind out of it's wanderings to see that Etsuko was also looking at her. She sat up and averted her gaze.

"I should probably go." he remarked, looking at a nearby clock. "It's almost eleven."

Akira started. "Oh dear! You should probably head back home! I didn't realize it was so late, I'm sorry for keeping you."

He shook his head and smiled. "No, thank you for letting me stay here. And thank you for the tea, it was delicious."

"It's nothing really." Akira said, smiling back.

Etsuko and Akira said their cheerful goodbyes as he made his leave. Akira watched as his figure grew more indistinguishable in the darkest while he walked away. She lost sight of him as he turned a corner and she retreated into the lighted safety of her small home. She looked at the empty room and with a small determined breath, she began tidying up. She put her books on the shelves where they belonged and washed the dishes. As she folded her laundry, her mind wandered.

The day was well concluded in her mind. While it had been thrown for a complete loop and her life had done a one hundred and eighty degree turn, it was moving forward again now. All she hoped was that it would stay the same from now on. She could easily graduate again. While she might not be the youngest teacher on campus again, she could regain her status through hard work.

Speaking of work, she knew she needed to get a job if she didn't already have one. She decided to go on the hunt in the morning. She was exhausted from the day's work both in the morning and this evening. So once she finished her laundry, Akira showered and prepared to get into bed. It had been a very long day, and who knew what tomorrow would hold in store for her?


End file.
